Addis Ababa – The first aid convoy for three months arrived on Friday in the capital of Ethiopia’s war-stricken northern region of Tigray, the UN’s World Food Programme said.
The development comes a week after the government and Tigrayan rebels agreed to a conditional truce in the 17-month conflict in northern Ethiopia.
“13 trucks have arrived safely into Mekele, more trucks & fuel will follow in the morning,” the WFP said on Twitter. “This is 1st humanitarian convoy to arrive into Tigray region since last Dec”.
#UPDATE The first international aid convoy in three months will soon enter Ethiopia’s war-stricken #Tigray region, the UN said on Friday, one week after the government and Tigrayan rebels agreed to a conditional truce https://t.co/LuFXLlYlXd pic.twitter.com/pwRdlKSur9
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 1, 2022
Earlier, the UN agency had announced that 20 trucks were on their way to Tigray from the neighbouring region of Afar.
“Good progress, much more needed we need daily convoys flowing in safely to meet the needs of 5 million people,” it added.
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The war has driven hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of starvation, displaced more than two million and left more than nine million in need of aid in northern Ethiopia.
The WFP said it thanked the federal government and the Afar regional authorities for “supporting the convoy’s safe passage to deliver urgently needed assistance to the people of Tigray”.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter / @AndyVermaut
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